Personally I like to see a little longer recovery time than Carpenter is on track for. A year (July 2007) is cutting it pretty close, and he is 33 which would tend to make me all the more skeptical (we generally don't heal as fast as we age).

It is possible, though - so if you have a DL spot to stash him in it can't really hurt you too much. Been considering it myself in a deeper league.

For comparison Liriano had his surgery in November 2006 and he is only 24. I have higher hopes for his return - but you never know.

So since TJ he has had a 3.69 era 1.23 whip, looks pretty good all jokes aside. But yeah he has sucked this year.

He has pitched fairly well, but he has also been a disaster when it comes to staying healthy. If I was a doctor selling TJ to a pitcher I wouldn't want to use anything other than AJ's contract as a showcase.

Tavish wrote:He has pitched fairly well, but he has also been a disaster when it comes to staying healthy. If I was a doctor selling TJ to a pitcher I wouldn't want to use anything other than AJ's contract as a showcase.

As long as they have nothing to do with his repaired arm why not? (I'm not certain of his injuries the past few years) Also he has been somewhat injury prone his whole career, not just after TJ. For example he missed lots of time in 2000 and also time in 2001. He is pitching as well as he did before TJ, seems successful to me.

AllDay wrote:Personally I like to see a little longer recovery time than Carpenter is on track for. A year (July 2007) is cutting it pretty close, and he is 33 which would tend to make me all the more skeptical (we generally don't heal as fast as we age).

I believe Tommy John had his surgery when he was 32.

"I do not think baseball of today is any better than it was 30 years ago... I still think Radbourne is the greatest of the pitchers." John Sullivan 1914-Old athletes never change.

Tavish wrote:He has pitched fairly well, but he has also been a disaster when it comes to staying healthy. If I was a doctor selling TJ to a pitcher I wouldn't want to use anything other than AJ's contract as a showcase.

As long as they have nothing to do with his repaired arm why not? (I'm not certain of his injuries the past few years) Also he has been somewhat injury prone his whole career, not just after TJ. For example he missed lots of time in 2000 and also time in 2001. He is pitching as well as he did before TJ, seems successful to me.

Sure he was injury prone before the surgery, hence the need for the TJ. Most of the DL trips he has had since the surgery has been elbow issues. The surgery bought him one good year so far and the one big contract.

AllDay wrote:Personally I like to see a little longer recovery time than Carpenter is on track for. A year (July 2007) is cutting it pretty close, and he is 33 which would tend to make me all the more skeptical (we generally don't heal as fast as we age).

I believe Tommy John had his surgery when he was 32.

The point I was making is that a 32-33 year old might need a little longer than the minimum 1 year to return. Tommy John had his surgery in Sept 1994 and sat out the '95 season. He returned to pitch in the '96 season.

Carpenter is making his first rehab start almost exactly a year after his surgery. He might be ready and not show any ill effects at all - but in this case I would think he would be a better 'buy low' candidate next year than to expect much this year when he does return.